Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande says 60% of learners who complete school must enrol in programmes offered at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to meet South Africa’s demand for scarce skills.
Scarce skills refer to specific abilities, knowledge, or expertise that are in high demand but are not readily available in a country’s labour market.
South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) states that the country must produce 30,000 qualified artisans annually by 2030. Currently, the country is only producing around 20,000 qualified artisans per year.
Ours is to ensure that the number increases drastically leading up to 2030 for the country to realise the National Development Plan (NDP) target.
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) launched several programmes to promote artisanal training as a career option for young people. The Decade of the Artisan was a long-term campaign launched to increase the uptake of artisan courses by youth.
Initiatives such as workplace-based learning, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship training have also been undertaken to achieve these goals.
In 2014, we launched the Decade of the Artisan campaign to promote artisanship as a career of choice to South Africa’s youth. The campaign was launched under the theme “Its cool to be a 21st Century Artisan”.
Nzimande says the campaign is critical in ensuring enough qualified artisans are produced to meet the needs of South Africa’s economy.
The DHET has also invested millions to develop Centres of Specialisation. In 2017 the department investment amounted to R150 million to upgrade infrastructure at 19 TVET colleges.
I must also indicate that our Centres of Specialisation are well-positioned to prepare students for the workplace, or for self-employment, through the maintenance of close working relationships with employers in their areas of study.
There are now 34 Centres of Specialisation at 20 of the country’s TVET colleges. It was further revealed that 16 of these colleges now have 33 Trade Test Centres.
Trade Test Centres are facilities designated for conducting trade tests to assess the practical skills and knowledge of individuals seeking to become qualified artisans. Nzimande believes the establishment of 32 Trade Test Centres is a huge achievement.
When this department was established in 2009, there was only one trade test centre for the whole country at Indlela, and this was presenting a huge obstacle in the pipeline of producing more artisans. Now we have thirty-three trade test centres, and this is indeed a huge achievement
Nzimande said the department has established entrepreneurship hubs at TVET Colleges to support students to move into self-employment after the completion of their programmes.
